Dear Skyrim Romance Community,

A new year has come, one that has promise for fortune or failure. One that we take as a clean slate to work on ourselves, our character, our lives, everything we can muster. But this is also the end of a countdown that I have held close to my heart for quite some time now. Perhaps it is odd for me to feel so much pride for this; but I have worked hard on this, with the help of some fantastic people I want to thank. January 11th, 2018 marks the day the Offical Skyrim Romance Discord was created, so I would like to share some details of its making and why I am so proud to be the creator of it.

For those who do not know who is writing this, I am Eboni, Personal Assistant to Mara and Head of the Marketing Team. I have worked with the Skyrim Romance Team for quite a while, thanks to Mara graciously giving me a chance to show what I had to offer. All that leading up to the idea of making a Discord server for Skyrim Romance popping into my head. Despite us having a chat room system on the site, I thought it would be the perfect way to connect the community more than ever before, bring us closer, and by Talos, I was determined to make it great. To my delight, Mara approved to have it made, so I got to work as soon as I could.

I remember excitedly researching bots to use and making a list of channels to add that would be an interesting addition to this server. There were, of course, many ideas scraped and changed, but it only made everything better, bit by bit. I didn’t let anyone, not even Mara into it until I felt it was ready for the first group test run. I remember the joy I felt to have people interacting on there for the first time.

While there were so many great moments shared with each other, there was drama and rule changes along the way; as was to be expected. Yet it never scared me or any of our moderation staff away, and so the next test wave was sent in. With the test groups we got, I found people that I call great friends now, as well as family. Many found themselves joining our teams, helping with this community with such passion. I hold a few close and praise them for their work in our community still.

Opening the server completely to the public… opening it to all of you, I felt happy, overjoyed, nervous, so many emotions it’s hard to count. Hearing how people felt so welcomed as soon as they joined, it made me smile each time. My goal was to make it easier for the Skyrim Romance Team to connect with our fanbase, not only did that come true, but it brought so many close, into an environment filled with kind souls.

My heart ached a little, the day I agreed to step down from being the main manager of the SR server to become the Head of the Marketing Team. This server, it brought so much good into my life, good friends, good memories, good life lessons. I can’t say everything was perfect about it, I did have my rough days, weeks even with this server. But the pros certainly outweigh the cons, it’s evident by the state of the server now.

I can’t thank the people who supported me enough, who offered their help, who really made this community so much brighter. To some this all sounds so overdramatic, I understand why. However, I mean every word I type. I wouldn’t be who I am now without this community, you all have helped me grow in some way or another. Be it you liked a post on our Facebook or talked with us in our voice chats, you have all made an important impact on my life. Thank you all, for sharing times of laughter that made me breathless, for the encouraging words, for sharing parts of your lives with me. I’m so honored to be a part of this community, I’m so proud to have been given the opportunity to assist by Mara, I will always hold the Discord server up as an achievement in my life. But I want you all to know, I couldn’t have done this all without you. You make this server so great. Not me.

With that, I’d like to say Happy One Year Anniversary to the Offical Skyrim Romance Discord server. I hope to continue celebrating this day for many years.

Sincerely,
Eboni

P.S. A special thanks to Mara and the Moderation Team for all they provided. And let’s not forget Tava, a beautiful woman, and Leader of the Moderation Team. I couldn’t think of a more fitting person to take over care of this server.

Article by Eboni
Cover Art by Ardy